Focus needed to help recent graduates into high-class employment

11.50.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Sun 3rd Sep 2006

Alliance Party Spokesperson on Youth issues, Ian James Parsley

Alliance Party Spokesperson on Youth issues, Ian James Parsley, has demanded a change of direction from government agencies to ensure recent graduates have every opportunity of high-class employment in Northern Ireland.

The North Down Councillor stated: "As recent graduates find themselves still temping, working in bars or doing deliveries, families across Northern Ireland will already be wondering what it takes for graduates to be given a chance in high-class employment here at home.

"The economy relies not just on the quantity of jobs out there, but also the quality. People have not worked hard for three or four years to earn pittance in a dead-end 'nine-to-five'. They rightly demand that their qualifications are met with challenging career paths and high reward, and in the new Northern Ireland they rightly expect this to happen here at home.

"Yet job centres and government training agencies remain too highly focused solely on simply getting people into employment, rather than specifically assisting high-class graduates into high-class work, where they can really contribute. Many graduates will find the various recruitment drives are not aimed at them at all. And so the 'brain drain' will continue.

"Government must reallocate funding into creating better training programmes and better recruitment assistance for recent graduates, especially at this time of year. We cannot simply let another talented generation slip out of the country. We need them in jobs where they feel valued, where they feel challenged, and where they can create the wealth necessary for a truly world-class Northern Ireland."

ENDS